the claustrophobia readings: always reading to a packed house

Listing, blogging

At The Station on Beacon Hill, working on a bit of a poster — a bit late I’ll admit — for Monday’s reading at Bean City. They don’t know it (yet) but The Station is on The List.

There is a List. And it deserves capitalizing.

While you’re hanging out on the internet, how about some reading up on poetry, the state of, the city we’re in and all that? Thanks to Paul Nelson for the shoutout in his article on Seattle’s poetry scene. It should be noted that the piece is a well-observed challenge to Seattle’s poet-town frolics, but some of the conclusions I (Graham is writing this one) draw probably differ. Opinions contained are not necessarily those of cozytown, etc, etc, etc. Either way, well worth the sort of passive aggressive dialogue for which this town is universally embraced.

Well, you’re certainly more versed in the whole of the NW scene than I am, so I don’t have a list of hidden postmodernism occurring beneath the space needle’s storied gaze.
I do think that with events like Cheap Wine and Poetry or Cheap Beer and Prose (and to a greater extent, but taking a different form, the Slam) there’s an implicit contract with the audience that they’re here for an evening of entertainment. And I think in any Literary Town (or Music Town, or whatever) you’ll have events– and audiences– there to challenge/be challenged, and those there to showcase/experience the accessible front of an artform. To that end, I think CW&P does a good job of juggling writing/performance styles.
I also think that one of the best things going on around is the mixing/shaking up that events like Breadline and the Hoarse readings have done in terms of getting slam poets, language poets, UW kids and established vets of Seattle’s lit scene on the same readings and in the same pages. Makes everyone pay a bit more attention to what they’re doing.
or at least, it’s made ME pay a bit more attention.